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Abstract

A spindle assembly with air bearings for use in a hard disk storage device. The spindle assembly consists of a stationary shaft assembly and a rotating hub assembly that is supported in rotation by self-acting air bearings formed between adjacent axial and radial surfaces of the shaft assembly and the hub assembly. The shaft assembly includes a stationary shaft. A cylindrically hollow ceramic sleeve is fitted around the shaft. A double herringbone groove pattern is indented into the outer cylindrical surface of the sleeve. A further hollow ceramic cylinder fits over the sleeve such that a suitable air bearing can develop between the outer surface of the sleeve and an inner surface defined in the cylinder. Two disk-shaped ceramic thrust plates are fitted around the shaft, one on either side of the hollow sleeve. The innermost surfaces of the thrust plates are indented with a herringbone groove pattern such that a suitable air bearing can develop between the surface of the thrust plates and the flat end surfaces of the cylinder. A motor stator assembly is fitted to the end of the stationary shaft beyond one of the thrust plates, and a magnetic rotor assembly is fitted to the inside surface of a rotating aluminum hub adjacent to the stator.

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First Claim